Pneumatic car dumping and righting device.



N. SGHAEFERS.

PNEUMATIC GAR DUMPING AND RIGHTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 0012 31, 1910.

Patented July 9, 191.2.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

N. SGHAEFBRS.

PNEUMATIC GAR DUMPING AND RIGHTING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED 001'. 31, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented July 9, 1912.

'line of the train and to th ilNiTEiil i s; innit) NICHOLAS SGHAEFERS, OF LUDLLHB KENTUGKY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filcfi October 31, 1910. Serial No. 5853,81 8.

To all whom it may can. m:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS SoHAErnns, a citizen of the United States, residin rnt Ludlow, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneuu'mtic Car Dumping and Righting Devices, of which the following is :1. specification.

My invention relates to devices for pneumatically dumping 21nd righting c;

The object of my invention is to produce a device which dispenses with (he insuiiicient and dangerous chains and holding devices which MP6 in such common use on this style of dump car, and to provid or series of compressed air cylinders. which by means of mechanism (which will he (lescrihed herein) the engineer of a train of cars may put into operation by simply opening a valve or throwing it lever, as the case mny'hc, inside of the'engincefis cal).

Another object of my invention to pro vide a device which will enable the engineer or conductor to dump it whole train of cars together, either to one side or the other of the track or to dump the cars nlternn y to one side or the other without the as tune-e of any one stationed along the side of the cars.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a pneumatic dumping device which may be operated to unlock, dump, right and lock While the train is in motion, the pneumatic mechanism being controlled by the engineer of the train, thus on. ing' train to he dumped while in motion it it found necessary or desimhle to do so. A still further object of my invention to'produce a device' which is more eliicient' than the devices now in use, and one which will save a, great amount of time, labor and -expense.

M'y invention-consists briefly in a series of compressed an cylinders and pistons,

-Which are connected together in such a man ner as to operate mechanism, which in turn throws the car into dumping position, to

one side or the other and then rights snii'l car, said compressed air cylinders being connected to the miiin conipressed air pipe e separate 'engineers train lines, which run perallei with the main supply pipe for the compressed air tanks.

My invention also consists in cert-sin detailsot const-ruction'and in the combine- I l r l l i l l i l I l l i l l l l l l l l i i i l I showing tion and m'nngeinent of ports herein se forth and claimed.

in the eccon'ipsnying drawings. which. serve to illustrate my invention: Figure 1 1 5 21 side elevation of a dump car equipped with my invention, parts of the trucks being broken away for the sake of clearness. Figf is diagrammatic View of my invention, showing the compressed air cylindcrs in section. is n'det nil'viiew .ection on the linc, 3-3,of Fig. i. is a cross-section taken through one of the valves employed. in my invel'ition.

5 a. cross-section taken through enoth valve employed in my invention. Fig'. ii is a twoss-section taken" substantially on th iine ii of .i. Fig. i is ii perspective view of the car body propelling Wheel. ig. 8-

:1. perspective view of the locking block employeiii in my invention. Fig. 9 is it crossscctionsl view similar to that illus trated in Fig. 4 showing the valve and opcrating hrin in the revcrseposition from that shown in i ig. 4% so that when the veins is operated it w open a. different pipe to the comp air suppiy.

n .oflii'ilQUt of my which truction, A l8 mted to heiinis 1 1-. The l he tins sire mount usual 'innnner on trifhs C. llhe car adapted to tOtlil; upon hearings or pivots invention as which or Z- in in he l the channel iron.

in 'ususi manner. The main com pressed sir line 1 of the ililiii extends -n the air pump on the engine ail along the rain of cars, means being provided. esusual for connecting and disconnect said line bet ween the csrs of the train. Each oer is provided with :1 pair of compressed air reservoirs 2 end 2', which. are coni'iected to the main train line 1 at, 3 and 3 asbest sit in Fig. 2. .g from the air resen voirs 2 and 2" are pipes end i which connect to three-way valves 5 and 5', said valves having pipes Z 8', i" and 8" respec tively connected thereto. The valves 5 and 5 are best illustrated in Figs. 4 and 9 where the pipes 41,, "Z and are shown con nected thereto. Two devices are required to operate the system properly, one to dump the chi? and the other to right said cur. Valve 5 (shown inFig. 4:) is provided with ii casing having four openings or ports therein. three of which are for the pipes which are connected ti lei-etc. and also allshows a preferred.

, openingor port 11 The openings or ports in said ivalve casings are preferablyiplaced ninety degrees apart, and a passage 12 is.

providedin the valve 5 connecting the port for pipe 7 and the port 11 or the port for 4, the air then passes from air reservoir 2 through pipe 4 through said valve stem 10 to pi e 8, thence to the releasing cylinder 13 w 1011 is suitably mounted on the top of I-beams or channel irons 14, which connect' the t-rucksC of the car together and form a platform for mounting or pivoting the body of the car upon the trucks. The pi'st-on rod 1 7 of-"said releasing cylinder .13, connects to an upwardly extending arm 18, mounted upon a shaft 19, which in turn is journaled in suitable bearings 20, OB he top of the platform formed by the Lb'e ms. pr channel bars 14. Mounted on one 'Ie 'd' of the shaft 19 outside of the bearing 2D,,as a rocker arm 21 disposed vertically thered'n and fastened thereto at its middle point A shaft 22 is mounted in! a. manner similar to'shaft 19-near the end of the'car in bearings 6 and 23 respectively and does not extend entirely across the car as does shaft 19, but only extends from bearings 6 to a 3 mounted at the opposite end of the car in- 5O point just beyond bearing 23. At the end of said shaft beyond the bearing 23 is a downwardly extending arm;24,tightly mounted thereon which is connected to the downwardly extending portion of the rocker arm 21 by means of a rod 25. The shaft 22 also has a laterally extending arm 26 adjacent the bearing 6 which carries a'hanging looking bar 28 at the endthei'eof. A shaft 27 is bearings 6 and 30 and also has. an upwardly extending arm 4 2 which is connected to the upwardly extending portion of the rocker arm 21 by connection made of any suitable material," An arm 26 is also mounted on said shaft-27 adjacent the bean ing 6' to which isat'ta'ched the hanging looking bar 28'. Thus shafts 22 and 27 are op erated together by means of connecting rod 70,- thereby operating the hanging locking bars 28 and 28 at the same time. Locking blocks 31 and 31 are mounted between the channel bars 14, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 8 and are each provided with vertical slots 32 and 32 which are adapted to receive the hanging locking bars 28 and 29, and 28 and orts therein 29' respectively. one of these locking blocks. is located atf'each end of the car directly above the two car body propelling wheels 35 and 35" respectively. These car body propelling wheels 35 and 35' are fixedly upon the propelling shaft 36 one at each\ end thereof, the propelling shaft being suitablymounted in bearings 37 fastened in any suitable mannerv to the channel irons or I- beams 14 and just underneath same so that the hanging locking bars fall adjacent the propelling wheels. The locking bars 28 and 28 extend or hang below the lower surface of the locking blocks 31 and are adapted to hang in the path of a cam 34 on the propelling wheel 35 and the corresponding cam on propelling wheel 35.

The car body propelling wheels 35 and 35 are each provided with two cams 33 and 34, which are adapted to engage with the locking bars which hang down through the locking blocks 31 and 31. Each of the car body propelling'wheels 35 and 35 are provided with grodves :38 and 39 in the rim thereof, in which; areplaced cables 40 and 41 respectively which are fastened to said wheel'and whichextend therefrom to the side of the car body to which they are securely, fastened. Die of the car body propelling wheels wit I the cams mounted thereon is best illustrated in Fig. 7. The cams 33 and 34 one on each side of the propelling wheels 35andg35: point in opposite directions and each engagetheir respective hanging locking bar 23-and 29, 28.and 29, By means of the hanging locking bars hanging in the path of saidcams the propelling 'wheels are prevented from turning in either direction as bestshown in Fig. 3.-

The car body propelling wheels which are provided with thecams '33 having a cam surface at the top thereof do not make a complete revolution when operated, as is readily seen by the position in which the cables 40 and 41 are fastened upon the car body propelling wheels in Fig. 1. If it were .not for the cam surface on the top of said cams 33, they wouldv immediately become blocked from returning to their normal positionas soon as they engaged the locking after the cams 33 have passed same, and before the propelling wheel returns to its normal position.;' For this reason I provide the cam surface so that it will cam the locking bar 29 upwardly, thereby allowing the propelling wheel to assume its proper normal position and automatically lock itselffrom forward movement again 'until the locking bars are properly operated. I

An engineers train line .1 extends paral- 101 to the main pipe line 1, to which is con-- nected a small pipe 15, which in turn connects to a compressed-air valve operating cylinder 43, and the piston rod 44 of said 115 bar 29, which falls t'o its normal position in order that when the piston rod 44 is op-v erated the valve 5 as shown in Fig. 9 will be operated .to' connect the pipes 4 and as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 9, thereby charging the dumping and righting cylinder50f direct through pipe 7, instead of the cylinder 13 piston 58. of the cylinder 50 outwardly and immediately operating the operating arm 59 which is connected by means of the flexible connection 62 around the roller 63- to the propelling wheel 64; mounted tightly on the propelling shaft 36 and thereby operating the propelling shaft in the proper direction toright the car. Of course when it is desired to dump the car in opposite directions, the valves 5 and 5 respectively must be changed or reversed to operate either the releasing cylinders 13 and 13 first, or the dumping and righting cylinders 50 and 50 first, as desired.

The valve 5 of the device is normally in the position shown ltl solid lines in Fig. l and the valve 5 oii-,tlie opposite side of the device is normally in the position shown in dotted'lines in FigL/l, the arm d5 n each case movingin the directionv of the arrow.

Thus it is seen that in the valve 5 the pas.

sageway 12 will be moved with the arm to connect thegpipes l and 8 together, while in the valve .5'; the passageway 12 will connect the pipesl 'r and 7 together when the arm 4:5 is operated. For instance the device as shown "in Figs. 1 and 2 is properly connected so as to dump the car to one side and when it is desired to dump the car to the other side, the engineers tragn line 65 1S charged to operate thelpiston rod 44C in the valve operating cylinder 43, thereby operating the arm of the arm 4550 valve 5'; The valve 5" is placed in a position corresponding to the position of the arms 45 shown in Fig. 4 so that when the piston rod ell operates the arm 45f of the valve 5 the pipes 4 and 8 are connected tmgether through sa d valve 5, thereby charging the COHlPYOSS8 air releasing cylinder 13, and operating its piston rod 17, which operates the arm'18,';wh1ch in turn operates the shaft 19, thereby operating the rocker arm 21.- Thejrockerarm 21' operates the con-' necting rod 2?)- connected between the lower extending portion of the rocker arm 21' and the downwardly extending a-rm'2 l mounted on 'hafti 2%, supported in a bearing 23.

The shaft 22 is journaled at the other end in a bearing 6' and is an entirely separate shaft from that shown at 27 and has mount ed adjacent bearing 6 an. arm 16. hanging locking bar 29 arm 16 and when said arm 16 is operated said hanging bar '29 is raised out of engage ment with its engaging cam on the propelthrough pipe 8 and forcing the' any car which The is attached to said ling wheel 35. A connectionis" connected between the upwardly extending portion of the rocker arm, 21 andthe 11pwardly extendin arm42 which is mounted on the shaft 27 ournaled in bearings 6 and 30. The shaft 27 is an entirely separate shaft from that shown at 2-2. An arm 16 corresponding to the arm 1-6 at the other end of the car is mounted on the shaft 27 adjacent -the'bearing 6. Thus when the rocker arm 21 is operated the shafts 27' and 22' are operated together, thereby operating the locking hanging bars 29 and 29 at'the same time, and thereby unlocking the propelling wheels to rotate in the proper direction.

Upon the return of the car body to its nor-v mal position. it is readily seen how it is stopped at the proper point by the propelling wheel cams 33 and 34 coming into contact with the hanging locking bars which are placed inthe path of the forward movement of thecams. v

When the device just described is used to dump thecar the opposite device must be connected properly to right the car, which simply means theeonnection of the valve 5 to operate the arm 45 and the piston rod l i of the compressed air valve operating cylinder 48:

It is readily seen that I have simply taken the device which was first described as dumping t e car, and placed another similar device on tie opposite side of the car, either device,to be used for dumping according to the side it is desired to dump the car. Either deivce may of course be connected to right .the ear.

In; loading a train of cars, certa n cars maylbe loaded unequally, thereby being unequally balanced and tending to cause one car -i o dump quicker than nether. This being the case, if onecar, or instance, is dumped before the car preceding it in the train, the car dumping first would robhe following car of its air, and thereby delay the following canfrom dumping. 'qTo prevent this unequal distribution of in the cars, I provide check valves 46 in the supply pipes leading to the reservoirs 2 and 2 respectively. The check-valves allow the air. to enter the tank fre ly, but prevent the air from backing out. ut-out valves 4-7 and 47 are also provided in the supply pipe for the reservoirs 2 and 2, respectively,to prevent said reservoirs from being charged when it is des red to cut out the device in disabled or is not intended to be dumped.

When a certain car is loaded more favorably for dumping to a particular side than other cars, after the engineers operating valve cylinder has been charged, and the air has passed up and the releasing cylinder has been operated to unlock the car body in order that it may for some reason or other is I into the lreleasing cylinder-,1

to the near side, which wruild carry the piedump, the car will dump immedi its favorable load, be the in the releasing cylinder has had a chance to fill up lhe dun'iping cylinder through loe pipe and by me: is of are car the pislon 58 of the (lumping cylinc been carried outwardly insl'ead of being forced oulwardly by the air, and forms a vacuum it were, for the air to rush in and fill said cylinder. denly rushes in will come from the poinrf cl"; highestpressure in the n, and as part of the pro sure has been used up in the air reservoirs oi l'his parlicular car, l'hereby ducing the pressure therein, and this car having dumped before lire car acceding it, it is natural lhal this air which rushes in would be laiien fro n the reservoir" and of the undumped preceding car. The check valves 46 and is serve to 1 "lain the normal high pressure in the reservoirs oi? such preceding car.

To is evideni' l'hat when {no car body in its normal posilion, the pistonrcd is in the central yosil'ioir or just hall way bel'weon the limits or: its stroke, ibis being necessary Lo allowlzhc car to dump over lo the far side, which would carry the pisl-on its full length, or would allow it to dump ton back io one beginning oi Sl'lOli A. great saving of air may be gained when ii is known that are in he un'iped lo one side for a ccrl" length ol. 'l-in'le, l' shortenin the cable hcreby illm in ll c piston 1'00. 58 to operaic the arm u;- dump 'lhc car, when it is traveling the ii-sh hall: of its stroke; instead of traveling he second half-oi the stroke, thus elimin: 'ing the ne'cossitv of filling up half of the cylinder before the cable begins to dump the car body. To accomplish lhis purpose, 1 pro vide the take up device 57 whi connected at one end lo the pivoted arzn 59 and winch is provided with another connecting T? to which z'd arm be atpoint ol} may inched if ereliy shortening rho lengthof cable "har ot-her end of the up device 52' being attached to the end of the cable 82, i great amount of air can thus known I ll, wilhout 2' pt rue engineer ope od encar running or Stan. 21n,,,5i1lllfi8 any man ex or conductor, ilic c tirely This i.-- nisolulze make of ear 'wii This air which sudl and scope, as for instance, the device mav be' operated by the conductor at the rear 01 the Main il desired, and I do not wish to be conllncd-lo the exact del'ails shown.

llhat .1 claim as new and desire lo secure by Letter Patent is:

l. A dum ling and righting device to be placed on cars llie bodies of which are :ulaplicd to tilt, said device consisting of a series of .-'linders adaplcd be filled with compressed air, a shaft exlending underueal'h said car, propelling wheels mounted thereon and means whereby said propelling wheels are prevented from rotating, except whcuoporatml by mechanism connected to piston rods of said compressed air cylinders, subslauiially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a car l" .5 body of which is adapted lo till, the combinalion of a shaftextending undcrnealh said car, propelling wheels on said shall, blocks mounted above said propelling wheels, shafts mounled above said blocks, arms on said shafts carrying hanging locking bars, cams on said propelling wheels, said hanging locking bars adapted to hang in the path of said cams, and engage ling wheel on said shaft, to which said fiexi ble connection is fastened, additional pro-- polling wheels on the ends of said shaft having connect-ions thcrefron'i to the car, Whereby said car body is tilted when said propelling wheels are operated.

i. In dui'npingcar, the combination of compressed air reservoirs, a main com- :ssed air supply pipe supplying said res ervoirs with compressed air, compressed air =tzylinders, pistons in said compressed air cylinders, a shaft rotatably mounted on the under side o'l said car, p pelling wheels on id shaft, operating means for said propelling wheels connected to said pistons, lockmeans prevent said propelling Wheels om rolnilng, mechanism whereby one of 'd pislons whcii operated is adapted to unloclrii means, air supply pipes lio ' Coll" oainiief'led lo eac'n compressed air cylinder,

20 for the purposes specified.

one compressed air cylinder being adapted.

to control a valve, said airsupply pipes of the other compressed air cylinder being connected to said valve, and an engineers air supply train line to which saidvalve controlling cylinder is connected, substantially as set forth and for the purposes specified.

5. A dumping car adapted to dump to either side, a shaft pivotally supported on 10 the under side of said dumping car, propel ling wheels on said shaft, compressed air cylinders mounted onflsaid car, operating means for said wheels connected to said compressed air cylinders, means whereby said dumping car is dumped when said propelling wheels are operated, and means whereby said propelling wheels are locked and unlocked pneumatically by l means of compressed air cylinders, substantially as and 6. In combination with a car body' adapt ed to tilt to either side, and mounted upon a frame secured to trucks, of locking blocks 'mounted on said frame, hanging locking I bars vertically disposed in said locking blocks, a shaft thereunder, means forconnecting said shaft to saidcar body, wheels tightly mounted on said shaft, cams on said Wheels adapted to engage the end of saidhanging locking bars, cables fastened to said 'wheels, a series of compressed air cylinders adapted to operate said hanging locking bars,

said cylinders connected to en in'eers train.

compressed air lines, compressed air reservoirs, a main supply pipe-therefor, :com-

pressed air cylinders the pistons of which are adapted to operate said cables fastened to said wheels, substantially as set forth.

7. A car the body of which-is adapted to 40 tilt in either direction, a compressed air supply pipe mounted. thereon, a shaft mounted thereunder propelling wheels mounted on said shaft, flexible connections connecting said propelling wheels with the car body, mechanism for preventing said propelling wheels from turning, pneumatic means for operating: said mechanism to allow said propelling wheels to rotate, and pneumatic means for rotating said propelling wheels.

8. pneumatic car dumping and righting device, comprising a main compressed air supply pipe, an engineers operating compressed air pipe, compressed air tanks supplied by said main compressed air supply pipe, a valve, three pipes connected to said valve, fa valve operating compressed-air cylinder, connected to said engineers com pressed air pipe, one of the three pipes, of

said valve connected to said air reservo1r, a'

- releasing compressed air cylinder, to which v another-pipe of said valve is connected a dumping compressed air cylinder to which the other pipe -f said valveds connected,

I said valvewhen operated adapted to connect allow the dumping 9.. A device for pneumatically dumping,

andrighting cars, comprislng a main compressed air supply pipe, operating -compressed-air pipes, compressed air-reservoirs, connected to said mainsupply pipe, valves having three pipes connected thereto, valveoperating compressed-air cylinders connected to said operating compressed-air pipes and "adapted to operate said valves, releasing compressed-air cylinders connected v to said valves, dumping cylindersconnec'ted to said valves, connecting pipes between said releasing cylinders and said dumping cylinders, valves in said ipes whereby said pipes are normally close a car bodyadapted to tilt to either'side, trucks for saidcar body,

a platformconnecting said trucks. upon which the car body is pivoted,lockingmeans on said platform for locking the car body in its normal position,-lock operating moch anism connected to said locking means, said lock operating mechanism being adapted to be operated by"saidlreleasingjcylinders, said lock operating meryhanism being adapted to operate the valves in .saidconnecting pipes between said. releasing cylinders and said dumping cylinders to open said valves and e'ylinders to, be charged and escape ports in said connecting. pipes adapted to allo'wtheair in said dumpmg cylinders to escapetherethrbugh whenasai valves are in their normal position, substantially as and fertile purposes set forth. 10. ha device for righting and dumpin cars, a main compressed air line, compresse air tanks connected thereto, check valves and cut out.valvcsfor said compressed air tanks, engineers train lines adapted to carry com-- pressed air, compressed air cylinders connected to said train lines and adapted to operate three way valves, compressed ;air.

= cylinders comiected by means of pipes. to

said three,way valves and 'iapted to 0perate locking mechanism, another pair of cylinders connecte to saidthree way valves I and adapted to operate car dumping mechanism, said cylinders also connected by means of a pipe to the saidcompressed air 0 linders which are adapted to operate the, oaking mechanism, valves in said pipe connections adapted when in their normal position to form an exhaust for the'cylinders which operate the car dumping mechanism, means whereby the locking mechanism operates being fastened/to a pivoted operating lever Whioh in turn is fastened to the piston of said cylinders adapted to operate said clump- H10 mechanism and cables fastened to the etfier propelling Wheels andto said car body,

substantially as and. for the purposes set foith.

NICHOLAS sonnnnnns.

Witnesses:

JAMES N. RAMsnY, \VINoNA Donn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

